To obtain valid and reliable research findings it is important to follow the process to validate measuring instruments. This entails determining the psychometric properties of a measure to eliminate or decrease the presence of measurement errors. Measurement errors have a negative impact on the validity of research findings. The aim of this study was to perform a confirmatory factor analytic study on the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire (AIQ-IV) to assess the model fit of the data. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed as part of the process to assess construct validity of a questionnaire to discover the misrepresenting influences of these measurement errors and to provide a foundation for further research. The AIQ-IV was administered to a sample of 157 participants in the South African context including different race, gender, age and occupation groups, drawn by means of convenient sampling. The research results and fit indices indicated that the data reflected a reasonable model fit. Copyright 2010, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Els, L 2010, A confirmatory factor analytic study of the aspects of identity questionnaire (AIQ-IV), MCom dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02092012-122330 / > C12/4/67/gm / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur lagerarbetare i ett svenskt grossistföretag uppfattar arbetsplatsidentitet och hur betydelsen av det påverkar upplevelsen av arbetet och välbefinnandet på arbetsplatsen. Vidare är syftet i studien att undersöka hur arbetsplatsidentitet påverkas av hur arbete och arbetsuppgifter är organiserade. Uppsatsens övergripande frågeställning är Hur påverkas arbetsplatsidentitet av hur arbete och arbetsuppgifter är organiserade? Social identity theory och Need to belong theory har använts i studien för att få en djupare förståelse om begreppet arbetsplatsidentitet. I studien tillämpas kvalitativ forskning genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer för att samla in empiriskt material. Respondenterna i studien är lagerarbetare som har arbetat i minst ett år på grossistföretaget och har hunnit skapa en uppfattning om arbetsplatsen. Resultatet i studien visar att arbetsplatsidentitet är förknippad med känsla av tillhörighet till andra individer och till arbetsuppgifter. Ytterligare visar resultatet att arbetsplatsidentitet är betydelsefull för lagerarbetarnas välmående och inställning till arbetet. Vidare visar resultatet att arbetsplatsidentitet är kontextberoende och har större betydelse i arbeten som utförs i grupp. / The purpose of this study is to explore how workplace identity is perceived by warehouse workers in a Swedish wholesale company and how it affects their experience of work and wellbeing in the workplace. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to explore how organizing work and work tasks affects workplace identity. This study's general issue is How is workplace identity affected by how work and tasks are organized? To gain a deeper understanding of the concept of workplace identity we have applied Social Identity Theory and Need to belong theory. To collect empirical material a qualitative research was applied in the study by doing seven semi-structured interviews. The respondents in our study consists of people working as warehouse workers, who had at least one year of experience in the company and developed an opinion about the workplace. The study results show that workplace identity is associated with a sense of belonging with other individuals and a sense of belonging to work tasks. Furthermore, the results show that workplace identity is of importance to warehouse employees wellbeing and work attitudes. Finally, the result shows that workplace identity is specific to the context and of greater importance in work that is performed in groups.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communication / Curtis Matthews / The objective of this study is to shed light on the interaction between the theory of selective exposure and social identity theory. Both of these theories describe aspects regarding how individuals expose themselves to information. However, the driving question of the study was to investigate the behavior of individuals whom experience cognitive dissonance from an inconsistent political message, but are receiving that message from a member of their perceived in-group. The expectation was that moderating variables, such as strength of identification with an ideology as well as the level of knowledge would impact who would engage in selective exposure and choose to disregard in-group cues, or choose inconsistent messages to stay true to in-group pressures. In a Qualtrics experiment, participants (n=189) were divided into different groups, attitude consistent and attitude inconsistent and were exposed to a series of tweets. Each tweet was politically charged, with the attitude-consistent group presenting consistent messages paired with in-group cues, and in the attitude-inconsistent group presenting a dissonant message was paired with the in-group cue, and visa versa. Two factors revealed themselves to impact results and message choice — knowledge and strength of identification. Results revealed that individuals who had a high level of knowledge chose the consistent message more often than those with low knowledge. The strength of ideology variable influenced differences in both the speed in which they made decisions on which tweet to select, as well as how quickly they identified with an ideology level. This result revealed that those who are strongly identified with an ideology make decisions regarding political messages and ideology faster than those who are weakly identified. The current study contributes to the plethora of literature regarding these two theories and the political science area of study by supporting knowledge as a moderating variable between cognitive dissonance and social identity pressures. It also provides insight into the trends and patterns that can arise when time/speed are utilized as a variable to shed light on group identification differences. The insights with the variables of time, strength of ideology, level of knowledge, could lead to numerous future studies.

Widely viewed as under-valued and under-paid, yet sentimentalized as working more for love than money, the social care workforce is a fundamental economic and social resource; the importance of which is growing in line with the rapidly aging, global and national population (Care Quality Commission, 2012; DoH 2009; International Helptheaged, 2013). Classic motivation theories, which focus on economic and individualistic work motives, fail to fully account for the high rates of satisfaction and commitment among care workers, (Skills for Care 2007, 2013; Stevens et al 2010). Yet a growing body of empirical research demonstrates that health and social care workers’ motivation is related to patient/client satisfaction and wellbeing (Maben et al., 2012). Moreover the quality of the relationship between the carer and client contributes to the motivation and the wellbeing of both (Wilson, 2009; Wilson et al., 2009). Therefore this thesis seeks to better understand the collective and relational aspects of care workers’ motivation. It does this by detailing a program of research which examines care workers motivations through a social identity lens that asks ‘what’s in it for us’ as well as ‘what’s in it for me’ (Haslam 2004). A social identity perspective on motivation focuses on how workers experience themselves and their work at a personal, relational and organizational level (Ashforth et al 2008; Ellemers et al., 2004). In doing so it offers a multi-dimensional, theoretical framework through which to understand the dynamics of care workers’ motivations. Moreover, this framework offers an empirically proven psychological framework for explaining why adopting a relationship-centered approach to care is pivotal for organizations to achieve a compassionate care culture. The first study explored care workers’ experience of work and inquired about what they did and why it mattered to them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 care workers who worked in residential and domiciliary care settings. A thematic analysis of the transcripts identified four overarching themes that contributed to care workers’ motivation, those of fulfillment’, ‘belonging’, ‘valuing’ and ‘pride’. These motives were found to be actualized in their shared experience of caring, particularly with clients and also with co-workers and as an organizational member. The findings of the study shed light on the content of care workers’ personal, relational and social identities and the interactions between them. Care workers primarily emphasized the meaningfulness of their work in terms of its caring nature. They expressed this is terms of their personal attributes, their relational role with clients and their perceptions of how the organisation treated them. This led us to hypothesize that their identification with the organisation is likely to increase to the extent they feel the organisation ‘cares’. Indeed to build on and harness care workers’ identities at work, the findings suggest that organisations need to place care workers’ relationships with clients at the heart of what they do. The second study was a longitudinal quantitative analysis of care workers’ motivations which consolidated and extended the findings of the first study. It had two parts, the first part was an examination of how care workers’ motivations are shaped by their sense of identity, and the second part tested how a professionalization intervention affected their motivation. To achieve this we administered an organisational survey at two time points, one year apart (T1 n = 643, T2 n = 1274, T1 & T2 n = 204). Analaysis of the survey responses assessed what it was that incentivized care workers (love and/or money), the relationship of this to work outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction, pride, stress, turnover intentions and positivity about professionalisation) and the extent to which it was affected by patterns of identification. We also examined variation in responses over time as a function of whether or not people had undertaken professional qualifications in the intervening period (so that, in effect, undertaking a qualification constituted an experimental treatment). This meant that the study had a quasi-experimental design in which we could examine the putative impact of exposure to a professionalisation intervention on organizational identification and motivation (for a similar logic see Lim & Putnam, 2010). In line with the five main hypotheses that were generated from the findings of Study 1 and from predominant findings in organisational and social identity research; the results showed first (H1), that care workers’ collective identification with different groups at work, was positively related to their motivation (Ellemers et al., 2004). More specifically, their work motivation was predicted by their identification with (a) the people they care for (client identification), and (b) the care organization they work for (organisational identification). Furthermore, although care workers indicated strongest identification with clients, it was their identification with the organisation that was the most proximal indicator of increased motivation. Second (H2 & H3), although care workers were most incentivized by their relationships with clients and the least incentivized by the pay; the extent to which either led to improved work outcomes was mediated by client and organisational identification. Where being incentivized by relationships with clients led to improved work outcomes, client identification predicted organisational identification, whereas client identification played a lesser role in mediating the likelihood of being incentivized by pay leading to improved work outcomes. In addition (H4), care workers’ identity varied as a function of the work context. More specifically, whether they worked in residential / nursing home care or in domiciliary care affected the nature and extent of their relational identification with their clients and the congruence between client identification and organizational identification (Ashforth et al 2008, Haslam et al 2003). Finally (H5), care workers’ motivations were enhanced by the professionalization intervention of undertaking a qualification, to the extent that it built on and maintained meaningful work-related identities. In particular, the results showed that, care workers’ motivation increased as a result of undertaking a qualification to the extent that the training increased identification with the organisation and other groups at work (Pidd 2004). Study 3 further investigated the effects of identification on motivation, learning and performance by examining the likelihood of professionalisation training being transferred to the workplace. A 2 × 2 longitudinal study evaluated the effects of a new generic professionalisation (NGP) training program, that tapped into distal work identities, and a standard localized professionalisation (SLP) training program, which spoke more to localised identities, on participants’ identification and motivation at work. Overall the findings indicated that compared to the NGP, the SLP (H1) maintained and strengthened participants’ work identification. Furthermore compared to the SLP, the NGP was associated with (H2) a reduction in trainees’ perception of the relevance and usefulness of the training, (H3) a reduction in motivation to enact the training, and (H4) a reduction in trainees’ immersion in the program. Moreover the findings demonstrated that (H5) the reduction in motivation to transfer learning associated with the NGP relative to the SLP, was explained by the reduction in identification it engendered, which in turn reduced participants’ sense of relatedness within the training context. These findings imply that learning is more likely to be applied when it (a) has relevance to identities which are more meaningful to participants, in this case local identities, (b) is delivered by people with whom care workers identify, (c) is validated by others in the workplace environment with whom the participants’ identify. Taken together, this program of research demonstrates that care workers’ motivations can be understood through a social identity perspective that incorporates the collective, relational and personal dimensions of providing care. It concludes by considering how organisations can tap into, harness, strengthen and develop care workers’ identification at work as a means of enhancing their motivation and retaining professional care staff. Through bridging theoretical and applied concerns, this research has wide-reaching implications for developing and maintaining compassionate work cultures within care organisations and other helping professions.

Immigration and its impact on aggregate welfare state preferences and welfare state reform has been the subject of numerous academic and political debates. Despite prolonged attention to these issues, however, empirical research has yielded mixed results concerning what effect, if any, immigration has the structure and generosity of the welfare state. This issue is further exacerbated by the absence of concerted conceptual cross-germination between the various theoretical literatures that examine immigration's effect on various social, economic, and political outcomes, making it difficult to identify the mechanisms through which immigration may shape the welfare state. To address these issues, I draw on social psychological research, theories of the welfare state, research on radical right-wing parties, and case studies from the United States to argue that changes in both the volume and characteristics of immigrants entering Western Europe might: 1) undermine the cross-class alliances necessary for maintaining the welfare state, 2) reduce public support for welfare programs, and 3) provide politicians on the far-right with a symbolic resource that can be used to justify cutting/restructuring welfare state programs believed to benefit immigrants. Empirical examinations of these arguments using a wide range of data sources indicate that immigration may be directly and indirectly related to welfare state spending. With regard to the former, the data indicate that the influx of migrants from less-developed countries into social and Christian democratic countries has contributed to rising program demand and corresponding increases in expenditures on more reactive welfare state programs (i.e., unemployment benefits). With regard to the indirect impact of immigration on the welfare state, analyses of voting and public opinion data demonstrate that changes in immigration have contributed to the electoral success of predominantly neoliberal, far-right, nationalist parties and contributed to rising levels of anti-immigrant sentiment over time. These factors, in turn, resulted in: 1) declines in popular support for those social and Christian democratic parties that are dedicated to the maintenance and/or expansion of the welfare state, and 2) reductions in average levels of support for welfare state programs designed to address issues of unemployment, making the welfare state more vulnerable to future retrenchment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ways in which members of interorganizational collaborations (IOCs) create and maintain the processes and structures of collaborative organizing. This research argues that IOCs are complex organizations that include ongoing communicative processes among individuals who act as collaborative members and constituent representatives. Specifically, this research seeks to explain how individual boundary spanners come to understand collaborative identities that create structures affecting actions and outcomes of the collaboration. Five research questions are posed using social identity theory as a guide to explore the data collected. The communication processes of IOC boundary spanners was investigated during a 13-month ethnographic field study, which included meeting observations, in-depth interviews, video stimulated recall, and document analysis. Overall, over 90% of the active members in the IOC were interviewed. Data was analyzed using the constant comparative method and organized by research question. Results indicate that boundary spanners in IOC use social identity to help orient and organize the diverse voices present within the collaboration. IOC members invoked group prototypes that created sub-groups within the IOC, thus allowing members with different goals for participation to find ways to justify membership. These prototypes also formed norms for communicating between members and created a collaborative environment that eventually led to organizational collapse. In addition, memberships within the IOC was constantly negotiated between members as the IOC worked towards certain goals. As sub-groups communicatively interacted with each other in the IOC, individuals would become more or less engaged in the collaborative process based on the successes and failures of the sub-group a boundary spanner has joined. Overall, this study helps us better understand how individuals within the IOC experience the collaboration and emphasize the importance of communication in collaborative processes. This study concludes with a discussion of the results and implications of the data for social identity theory, boundary spanner research and IOC research, as well as implications for practice. Limitations and future directions are also discussed. / text

This investigation sought to extend research in mediated intergroup communication by examining the role of emotion in producing intergroup bias. Two studies were guided by social identity theory, appraisal-based theories of emotion, and cultivation theory. Study 1 surveyed 254 adults, recruited through student referrals. Drawing insight from previous content analytic research and cultivation theory, results indicated that the media plays an important role in cultivating emotional reactions toward racial minorities. Overall daily television consumption was associated with experiencing anxiety-related emotions and distrust-related emotions toward Blacks. Television news consumption was associated with experiencing anger towards Blacks. Overall daily television consumption was associated with experiencing anger and anxiety-related emotions toward Latinos and Asians. Television news consumption was associated with experiencing distrust-related emotions toward Asians. In Study 2 a 2 (Immigration: Threat/No-Threat) X 2 (Ingroup Emotional Norm Endorsement: Present/Absent) plus 1 (Control) experiment examined the impact of mediated intergroup threat on attitudes toward immigration, collective self-esteem, information sharing and seeking behaviors, and policy support, in the context of illegal immigration. This study also examined whether experimental condition indirectly influenced the above-specified outcomes through intergroup emotions. Previous news consumption was examined as a potential moderator of the mediational relationship between experimental condition and intergroup outcomes via intergroup emotions. Results indicate that exposure to intergroup threat via the media directly influence attitudes toward immigrants' human rights and information sharing. Exposure to intergroup threat indirectly influences immigration attitudes through feelings of anxiety. Moreover, exposure to intergroup threat via the media indirectly influences information sharing and support for English-only legislation through feelings of disgust. Conditional indirect effects were found for immigration attitudes, information sharing, and support for English-only legislation. Exposure to threatening intergroup information neither directly, nor indirectly information seeking or emailing congressperson to reduce the number of immigrants allowed in the United States. Results are discussed in light of social identity theory, intergroup threat theory, intergroup emotions theory, and BIAS map research. Taken together, results suggest that the current study's social identity appraisal-based approach provides insight into the role of media in intergroup processes.

Extending prior research related to attitude development and intra-attitudinal consistency, the current study aims to evaluate various factors that predict attitudes toward public education and understand how they impact the direction and consistency of participants’ attitudes. In an effort to develop our knowledge of the factors that predict these attitudes among members of differing populations, the researcher will administer surveys that assess the three components of participants’ attitudes as well as the factors that predict them to public school teachers and parents of students in the United States (US) and in France. It is predicted that considerations like social identity and the structure of the two education systems will affect participants’ attitudes differently depending on their role (teacher or student) and location (France or US), while other aspects, such as the status of the profession of the teacher and the public perceptions of public education, will impact all participants’ attitudes similarly. This research will allow for an understanding of both the direction and consistency of attitudes toward public education, hypothesizing consistent attitudes among parents and inconsistent attitudes among teachers, based on the number and types of factors each set of the population considers when formulating their attitudes.

Motivational changes due to individual differences and situational variations in ingroup identification can influence accessibility of memories of ingroup violence, victimization and glories. In Study 1, high identifiers recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than of ingroup suffering. As well, they recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than did low identifiers. In Study 2, a manipulation of ingroup identity produced shifts in memory. Relative to those in the low identity condition, participants in the high identity condition recalled fewer incidents of violence and hatred and more good deeds by members of their group. Participants in a control condition recalled more positive than negative group actions; this bias was exaggerated in the high identity condition and eliminated in the low identity condition. With respect to memories of ingroup tragedies, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that experimental reminders of ingroup suffering enhanced participants' sense of connectedness to the ingroup. The findings suggest that memories of ingroup aggressions threaten ingroup identity whereas memories of ingroup suffering enhance ingroup identity. Societal implications of the findings are discussed. The present research informs the literature on reconstructive memory by extending previous findings on the flexibility of personal memories to historical memory.

Background: Integration of immigrants is an interactive process of learning a new culture, an obtaining of rights, access to a position and status and building of personal relations between migrants and the receiving society.  Their ability to reciprocally adjust to intercultural encounters is one of the most important factors of successful integration. Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate Swedish young adults perception and attitudes towards immigrants and immigrants’ integration into the Swedish society. Furthermore the aim is to study their perception of social interaction of immigrants and the Swedish host society. How Swedish young adults perceive their country’s immigration policy. Method:  A qualitative research, using an online open-ended questionnaire and in-depth telephone interviews were applied to collect the data about Swedish young adults perceptions and attitudes. The transcribed data were subjected to thematic analysis. Result:  The results of the qualitative research helped to understand Swedish young adults perceptions and attitudes. The findings showed that two of the biggest reasons that Swedish young adults support immigration are: humanitarism and labor force. Swedish young adults are very aware of immigrants’ integration in Sweden. They socialize with immigrants and have contact with them in daily basis. Swedish young adults, have a negative opinion regarding Sweden’s immigration policy Conclusion: Swedish young adults define immigrants as a people born in one country but move to another (particularly in Sweden) with an intention to reside there permanently. Regarding their acculturation expectations, they support integration as the best acculturation strategy. They think that immigrants in Sweden are “half way” integrated, geographically segregated, discriminated, prejudiced in different degrees and immigrant woman are the most excluded category.